


Wendip - Odd Horizons

by Silversoul596



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Badass Wendy Corduroy, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fanfiction, Love Confessions, Older Dipper Pines, Older Man/Younger Woman, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24596863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silversoul596/pseuds/Silversoul596
Summary: The sky at night is one of the most beautiful things to see. Shooting stars, alignments and more. If you're lucky, maybe even a shooting star might appear. Dipper and Mabel come back to Gravity Falls for a Summer vacation 4 years after the original setting. New Mysteries are around the town of Gravity Falls And its up to the twins to solve them. But Dipper still isn't over Wendy.... So will the stars align??
Relationships: Wendy Corduroy & Dipper Pines, Wendy Corduroy/Dipper Pines
Comments: 31
Kudos: 27





	1. Summer Breeze

The sounds that surrounded the young Dipper Pines differed from birds chirping, leaves rustling, and the occasional car driving by. The air was fresh, something you don't get enough of when living in the city. The bus was stuffy on the way here, so that might be why the young teen was appreciating the air more than he should. It was slightly breezy but he paid no attention to it. 

"Dipper are you just gonna stand about staring at the trees, or are you gonna help your sister lift these bags?" His attention was averted to see his sister, trying to lug their bags out of the bus with great effort. Well, he says ' _Great Effort_ ', but she was hardly getting anywhere. He could also tell his Sister was starting to get annoyed. 

"Yeah gimme a second, just basking in the wilderness," He quipped at her, a thing the Pine Twins have become accustomed to doing with each other, a sort of daily ritual if you would. Rolling her eyes and dropping his bags, Mabel moved past him and hastily made way towards the Mystery Shack, not even giving him the satisfaction of a reply. 

' _Nice one Dipper, now she's annoyed at you,_ ' IDipper sighed to himself as he watched his twin walk off without him. Mabel was in a mood since we had been on the bus for god knows how long, even she can get restless after a while. Guess her patience finally ran out... Aaand he's the one who broke it. He groaned as he picked up his bags, which even he admits were pretty heavy, before trying to catch up to his sister. 

Things haven't changed much since the last time we came to Gravity Falls four years ago. Everything was the same, the buildings as well. Nothing at all was different so far anyway. The scruffy teen wished he could say the same about him and Mabel. For one, He was the taller of the two twins. Something Mabel hates. 

Not to mention they were High School students now, so they had definitively grown up a bit... Well, he says that but Dipper still loved mysteries and Mabel still loves to put glitter on every piece of clothing ever. Guess some things don't change after all. As Dipper was occupied in his thoughts, a gust of wind blew his hat off his head. 

"My hat!" It was the same Trapper hat Wendy gave him four years ago before he and Mabel left Gravity Falls. Dipper wouldn't be lying if he said that hat had been worn a lot, not all the time (Like in hot weather) but even then it'd be sitting on his mantlepiece in his room. 

Quickly catching up to his grumpy sister, Dipper dropped his bags next to her hurriedly. "Watch them real quick," He could tell she wanted to say no, but Mabel noticed the hat missing from his head. "Don't take too long, please?" A smile showed on Dipper's face, nodding before running after his hat. Honestly, this was like something from a movie, hats don't get blown away like this ever. 

Running down the road after his runaway hat, he managed to catch up with it as it blew gently along with the wind. His focus was purely fixated on the hat, if there was one thing he would hate more than anything it would be losing the hat that was so dear to him. He managed to grab it but failed to notice that there was someone right in front of him. Before Dipper could stop himself, he ended up being part of a Collison... Which was purely his fault. 

Landing on his backside, the only thing going through his mind was ' _Ah crap_ '. He barely had time to mutter an apology before an all too familiar voice yelled out at him."Watch where you're going!". The dumbfounded and confused looked up to see who it was he had crashed into. To his surprise, It was Wendy. She had also managed to land on her backside, rubbing her forehead from the collision. 

"Ohmygod, I-I'm sorry. Are you okay, Wendy?" The teen spoke out hesitantly but rapidly at the same time, just tryna rush out that apology he guesses. He felt embarrassed, this wasn't how he imagined this reunion going down. At all. 

"Dipper? is that you!?" The redhead girl spoke with disbelief. ' _why is she staring at me all shocked?_ ' Dipper wondered. he could understand that they hadn't seen each other in a while, but it shouldn't be that much of a shock. "Yeah hahaha. Surprised?" Getting himself up off of the ground, he stretched out his hand towards her. She smiled at his polite gesture, accepting it and hoisting herself up with a hard yank.

As she dusted herself off, he realized that he was now taller than her! By at least a few inches as well. He couldn't help but let out a small laugh "You've not grown much," Her brows raised a little and she gave a small angry pout. She punches his arm hard "Shut up idiot, just cause _you've_ grown doesn't mean anything," She quipped back at the teen, rubbing his arm to help ease the pain that was throbbing in his arm. Yep, that's gonna bruise... But he honestly missed this.

A small smile crept upon his face, he felt like he was back home in a way. He checked the ground to see his hat when an old blue Pinewood cap on the ground caught his eye. It was laying there on the ground, the wind lightly moving it gently. ' _Better not let that get blown away as his hat did._ ' He reached down to pick it up "You dropped your-" We muttered at the same time, they both paused for a moment before the reunited duo burst into laughter. 

As the laughter quietened, he quietly picked up his old hat as she picked up her old one too. He gazed at his old blue cap, the memories it has, the things it had been through and seen. "You still wear this old thing? I thought you'd have thrown it out by now!" She laughed cheerfully as she looked at her old hat. He noticed the warm smile on her face and couldn't help but smile too. Dammit her smile was always so contagious.

"Oh? I could say the same to you," The cheery teen pointed towards the redhead in front of him, she looked at him for a moment before smiling at him. Seriously, that smile... Even after all this time, it still managed to make his heart jump. Palpations even! Okay, okay, maybe not that extreme. 

"Well... That's cause someone really special gave it to me." 

My heart skipped a beat. Dipper couldn't tell if it was her words or her smile, but at that moment he couldn't help it. He felt overjoyed. A blush appeared on his cheeks, he felt like he had to do something, say something, anything to hide the blush.

"You took the words out of my mouth," were the words that left his mouth. Not the best, but at least he didn't stutter. It must have worked because it definitely caught her off guard. The teen could have sworn he saw her blush, but it was probably just his imagination. She looked away, not saying anything back to him and he did the same. It wasn't awkward, just a bit embarrassing he guesses. 

After a few moments, she cleared her voice, "Well, since you're back for the summer we could do this," She stepped towards me, swiping the pinewood cap out his hands and placed the old blue cap on his head, fixing it so that it was nice and snug on his head. She then placed her old trapper hat back onto her head. 

"You look cuter with this one on," Smiling at me again, the blush on his face getting worse. Quickly turning on his heel, his mind screamed ' _She said that one on purpose!_ '. He couldn't help but get flustered and embarrassed, she was too good at making him feel like this. 

"C-Come on let's go to the Mystery Shack, Mabel's been left with the bags," Giving her no time for a reply, he started walking fast to the direction of the shack. He couldn't see her, but he heard the redhead run up behind him to catch up. She slowed down as she caught up, and we began walking together. It was quiet, but he couldn't help but take side glances at her. 

She didn't get taller, but she looked gorgeous. More gorgeous than the last time he saw her. She was 20 now and I gotta say she just looked... wow. Her long ginger hair and green emerald eyes were just amazing, it made him feel tight in his chest. 

He couldn't stop smiling like an idiot ' _man what were you thinking four years ago? She's way out of your league,_ ' I let out a small chuckle and she noticed. 

"What're you laughing at?" 

"Nothing just missed you is all." 

"Yeah... so have I." 

As the duo reached the shack, Dipper waved towards Mabel yelling "Look who I bumped into!" She looked up from browsing on her phone and gasped. "Wendy!" She exclaimed excitedly and ran towards us, jumping towards Wendy for a massive hug. 

Wendy was taken back a bit by Mabel's eagerness as she was tackled. "I've missed you too Mabel," She hugged back, meanwhile I looked on at the two as they embraced in the reunion hug, ' _looks like Mabel's not in a mood anymore._ ' Mabel turned her head towards me and stuck her tongue out. 

or not. 

"Real mature," He walked over and flicked her forehead, before going over to his bags and picking them up. "Let's go say hi to Soos!" The taller twin chirped happily as Mabel gathered her things, taking a slight pause to look at me and Wendy. "Did you two swap hats?? That's cuuuuute!" She mused at us. 

"S-Shut up Mabel it's just till the end of summer," Wendy spoke quickly, almost as if she was flustered? "Yeah yeah whatever, let's go!" Mabel jeered like a captain leading their crew into battle. The mischievous Mabel walked past me, giving my shoulder a nudge a wink but he just shrugged it off. 

Noticing he had left one bag left, he reached to pick up the last bag but Wendy reached for it too. "I'll get that-" She started to say, but we both grabbed it at the same time. Seriously this had happened twice in one day, what are the odds huh? He was holding her hand and they stayed like that for a moment. Just a moment, but in that small moment, he had looked towards her face and she was looking right back at him. His eyes widened and let go of it hastily. 

"Sorry I didn't mean to-" 

"No no, it's okay don't worry about it" She cut me off, the teen let out a deep sigh as he let her pick up his bag with ease even though it was my heaviest bag, making her way to the shack. Damn, she was still as strong as ever. ' _Well done Dipper_ ' He groaned to himself as he followed her to the Shack...


	2. The Mystery Shacks Reunion

Mabel opened the main entrance to the Mystery Shack, a distinct bell ringing to notify that new tourists had arrived. Well, usually it would be tourists which Grunkle Stan would suck dry of all their money, but this time it was the Pine Twins. The reason they decided to go through the shop door was a mixture of surprise and well, they just _had_ to see if the place's attractions had changed. To their surprise... Nothing. Nothing had changed. Not one bit, everything at first glance was exactly how they remembered it.   
  
The only difference was that the place looked cleaner, but that was just about all the changes they could spot. Dipper turned to his sister, giving her the ' _We should've guessed_ ' Look and a shrug of his shoulders. Rolling her eyes, the glittery teen nodded in agreement with her brother which was followed by both twins letting out a sort of disappointed, yet relieved sigh at the same time. 

"What are you two sighing about?" Wendy questioned us, having watched the two twins interact with one another all this time. "I dunno, we kinda thought the place would have been done up a little bit, maybe new furniture or something". Dipper states and Mabel nods in agreement "We also made a bet on it, I won" Mabel proceeds to hold her palm out to her brother, who begrudgingly smacks ten dollars into her palm. 

"You two would be surprised at how much things have changed here" The redhead grinned as the twins looked at each other with confusion. As if it were some kind of sitcom, Soos comes walking in leading a clueless bunch of tourists on a tour around the shack and its many attractions. "And to your right, you'll see the left eye of the Rabid GhoulBat!!!" He pointed with Grunkle Stans- now his 8-Ball cane. 

As Dipper and Mabel followed its point to the eye, they were less than surprised to see it was a sloppily decorated baseball with an eye drawn on it, covered in slime... "Ohhhhhhh," The tourists all said in unison, clearly awe-struck somehow. Clearly, they were in Soos' clutches, ready to get swindled for whatever cash they had. "Really?" Mabel spoke, trying to stifle her laughter at how awful the ' _Rabid GhoulBats eye_ ' looked. "Wow, would you look at that, spooky new exhibits. Did Soos kill it himself?" Dipper retorts, nudging Wendy with a grin. 

Nudging back, the Lumberjill crosses her arms in pride. "Nah, I helped him kill it," Wendy jokes, leaving Dipper trying hard not to laugh too loudly as to not garner attention from Soos and the tourists. Mabel rolled her eyes with a smile on her face "Four years have gone by and you two are acting like two peas in a pod," Just as Mabel finishes talking, the two ' _peas in a pod_ ' look at each other blankly before bursting laughter. 

"Yeah whatever I'll let you two chuckleheads flirt or whatever, I'm gonna go say hi to Soos," Waving the Dipper and Wendy, she walked away and over to Soos, our laughter dying down. "Jesus man, I've missed your jokes," Wendy proceeds to sigh she goes to sit down at her usual spot at the gift shop desk. 

Dipper nodded in agreement, turning his head to watch the chaos ensue as Mabel tapped on Soos' shoulder, alerting him of her presence. He dropped all sense of professionalism and immediately encapsulated her in the iconic Soos bear hug. "Mabel I've missed you so much!!! You've changed so much I hardly recognized you!!!" He exclaimed in glee, squeezing her tighter. Jesus, you could swear Dipper saw her eyes pop out their sockets at how tight the hug was. 

"I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that hug" Wendy cowered, grabbing a magazine to hide from Soos' vision, knowing all too well at how terrifying the hug was. "Somehow I think I'm gonna be next," The scruffy chined twin sighed as he sat on top of the counter. 

"Don't worry dude, if you don't move he won't see you." 

"He isn't a T-Rex, he's more like..."

"A bear?"  
  
"Hundred percent, purebred Oregon Black Bear right there."

The chuckled as they both watched Soos, Wendy peering over her Indie Fuzz magazine. He eventually let Mabel down and cleared his throat. "Sorry about that my dear guests of the Mystery Shack Grande Tour. Sadly we have come to the end of our spooky tour, but you are welcome to buy souvenirs and such from our gift shop!" His business-like persona returning as he grinned, Dipper could swear he saw Dollar signs in his eyes. 

"Wow, he's just like Stan!" Dipper spoke with awe and disbelief. "Yeah, he's a natural, maybe even better than the man himself..." Wendy chuckled, we both knew he'd never best Grunkle Stan, but that's not to say he wouldn't give him a run for his money. 

Suddenly, Wendy placed both her hands on my back gently. ' _What's she doing?!'_ confusion filling his mind, not knowing what Wendy was doing. With a lot of force, he was pushed off the counter, "Dude you're in the way, I have customers I gotta sell stuff to you know?" She winked at me as she turned to serve the small queue of tourists that started to form.

' _She winked at me??_ ' She had been acting weird but he shrugged it off, she _was_ just teasing him and being playful after-all. His attention was led elsewhere, as Dipper noticed his shadow growing bigger and bigger rapidly. "What the-" He questioned himself, unsure at what was happening. As the teen turned round to see what was going on, he realized all too late that he was in the presence of one of the scariest things known to man... A massive man about to give a bear hug. 

"Dipper!!!!!!" Soos' exclaimed, arms wide, a warm smile on his face. Dipper's life flashed before his eyes, everything he had achieved, learned, loved. Alas, he was scooped up into his arms, his back, making a harsh cracking sound in the process. "S-Soos!" Dipper squeaked out. weirdly, you could compare his squeak to that of a rubber duck getting squished. 

"Awh dude I've missed you so much! You've gotten so tall!" He gave him one last squeeze before letting the struggling teen down. Dipper noticed in the corner of his eye, Wendy, face near to tears as she was holding back a mighty laugh. He felt flustered, was she seriously laughing at his pain? This wasn't funny!... Okay, maybe a little bit funny. But still. 

"I've missed you too Soos and I gotta say, I thought you were the spitting image of Stan," He complimented him and he could see it touched him deeply. "Awh dude, thank you so much! I'd been studying his work for years, truly a master," He bowed as if he was in the presence of a Shaolin master, needless to say, he hadn't lost his humor. 

"Pterodactyl Bros?" He raised out his fist with hope in his eyes, Dipper couldn't help but oblige, returning the brofist "Always!" They both smiled and he cleared his throat "Listen dudes, I'm glad I could have you two stay this year. I wish I could have had you guys sooner but we didn't have enough money to be able to host two teens in the Shack" He obviously felt guilty that he couldn't have us stay, but honestly the twins didn't mind. Dipper gave him a reassuring smile "It's alright man we understand, me and Mabel have been saving up money for the time we stay," His face lit up, a look of relief on his face. 

"Thanks dude, plus you two will be working here too!" He exclaimed happily "Wait, what-" Dipper tried to question him but he sped off "You're work shifts are in the staff room, I have more tourists I need to swindle- I mean tour!" And with that, he was away. 

Wendy waved at me with a grin on her face, Dipper walked his way towards her with narrowed eyes "You knew we'd be working here... didn't you," He questioned her, poking and prodding her arm to try and get some kind of answer. In response, she zipped her mouth shut. Dipper looked over at Mabel who didn't mind, hell she was already looking at the Shift Rota!!

"Dipper can you take our stuff up to our rooms? Just put my stuff on my bed," Mabel chirped at me with a toothy grin, Dipper in reply looks up in defeat and groans, "Yes your majesty," As he goes to pick up all the luggage. "Wendy, do you have that bag? Help me out," He asked and she nodded. 

"Sure thing, the customers are gone anyway," She stood up and grabbed the bag she picked up outside earlier. They both dragged the luggage up the stairs, careful not to drop anything. There was a moment where Dipper almost dropped something, but he saved it last minute. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they reach Dippers' room. It was the old one he stayed in last time, but Mabel wanted a different room so Dipper insisted on this one.   
  
He looked around the room quietly, the wooden beams above were still the same as I remembered. It almost made him feel melancholy. The nice pine-like smell he remembered all too well filled his nostrils with nostalgia... His bed looked as crappy as ever. He sighed and took his red flannel off, chucking it onto the bed. 

After opening one of his bags, Wendy walked into the room "I've put all of Mabel's stuff into her room, you sure you don't want help unpacking your stuff?" She questioned and he turned to give her a wide smile. "I'm not that same small, weak, scrawny kid you know? I've grown up!" I spoke with confidence. 

She stood there staring at him, almost as if she was in a daze. Her eyes were wide with surprise, The sparkle from her emerald eyes standing out to Dipper. He didn't say anything back, too fixated in her eyes to speak...

She had walked back into Dipper's room, wiping the dust off her hands after dumping Mabel's stuff into her room. Christ, how much stuff did she bring anyway? She wanted to help Dipper put away his stuff. She even tried to help take his bags up the stairs for him but he refused that too. 

He smiled at her, it was like a warm smile that filled her with a feeling of melancholy "I'm not that same small, weak, scrawny kid you know? I've grown up!" He spoke with a sense of pride and confidence. As the sun shone in through the room she was able to get a better look at him, I hadn't managed to get a good look until now but... he was right. 

He had his flannel off and I could see his arms more clearly, he's been working out now. He looked more built, not massive bulging muscles but he had a really good figure. someone like Robbie couldn't even take him in a fight. His face too was way more chiseled than when he was younger. 

He looked... amazing. She was so surprised, how did she not realize sooner? Wendy's a pretty observant person, she's always able to notice things at face value, but sometimes she misses stuff. .Puberty hit him _really_ well. She couldn't help but stare. A light blush on her cheeks appeared, but she didn't care ' _This is the same guy I turned down?_ ' Her mind raced, almost like she was kicking herself for doing it. 

But, he was right. He isn't that same small, weak, scrawny looking kid anymore. She always knew he was strong, but physically, there was only so much his noodle arms could do. But now? Those were _not_ noodle arms He's grown up, he's not a kid anymore, he's grown into a man. "Wendy are you alright? What're you staring at?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice, She snapped out of whatever daze she was in. 

"Oh um, Nothing I was just looking around the room. God, it hasn't changed much has it?" She laughed, trying to change the topic. Luckily, it worked. He let out a happy sigh "Not one bit," As he looked around the room, she moved closer to him to get a more in-depth look. Her blush was getting worse. What was she doing? Why are you doing this Wendy? But, she looked up at him, muttering "You're right Dipper, you have grown up. And you've done a fine job too," The words left her mouth before she could really think. 

His face lit up bright red, turning him into a bubbling mess. My slightly hidden blush worsened, In fact, she was scarlet and she knew he saw it too. "T-Thanks..." he stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck shyly. "I-It's no problem dude hahaha. I can say these things I'm your best friend after all!" Nudging the embarrassed teen, taking control of the situation.

"I'll leave you to it, if I'm away for too long Soos will kill me!" She exclaimed quickly, sticking her thumb out towards the door and Dipper nodded, before she left though she whipped out her voice and handed him her phone "You finally managed to get a phone right? Put your number in," He nodded and did so. 

They'd obviously called one another over the past four years, but his parents never got him his own phone. Mostly because he wasn't interested in one. So instead they'd call each other, he would use his house phone for that. But since he was leaving for the summer they decided to give him one to keep in touch. Wendy remembers Mabel being happy, which meant she could use the house phone more and also meant that he wouldn't use hers to call me either. 

"I'll text you later, we can hang out if you want, movie night or something," Shooting finger guns at him and he nodded back "that sounds great!" giving him a warm smile, she waved to him before walking out of his room and closing the door. 

She walked down the hallway a bit before leaning her back against the wall, sliding down a bit. She took off her old trapper hat and let out a deep sigh into it. _'Good save Wendy,_ ' Her thoughts congratulated her, her mind started to wander back to when she was looking at Dipper. She had this sort of feeling in her chest, She couldn't really think of what it was, but he had changed. Se's missed him so much and he's finally back.

Her eyes widened as she realized her hat smelled like him, and hugged it tighter...


	3. Howl Into The Night

"Mabel, will you hurry up?? The sun is setting soon," Dipper fidgeted in his seat, well to be more exact it was one of the lawn chairs up at his and Wendy's 'secret hideout.' They decided that they wanted to watch the sunset on the roof of the shack, it was only around 8:30 pm but he hated being late for anything. "Yeah, yeah, I'm hurrying as fast as I can!" She shouts back. 

His mind drifted back to earlier when he was talking to Wendy. ' _She looked so pretty..._ ' His mind wandered wistfully, he looked out towards the horizon, letting out a heavy sigh. Dipper was sat with Soos and Melody, just loitering around waiting on Mabel. Dipper looked over to Soos and Melody.

They were just talking about random things as they sat on the sun loungers, honestly, it was really sweet. They decided to move in together, about time too. Long-distance stuff is a hard thing to work on after all. It doesn't work out for everyone either, but it did for them thankfully. "Dipper, you got a girlfriend yet?" Melody turned to the unknowing Dipper. Needless to say, he had been caught a little off guard, evident by him choking on his water. 

Without missing a beat Mabel pipped up out of nowhere, "Not a chance, he's been a single pringle since last time you saw him!" They all turned to her, seeing her pop up from the ladder up to the roof. He let out a groan of embarrassment, it just felt like when your family members would make fun of you and tease at gatherings.

"Awh leave the guy alone, I'm sure he's got his eye on someone," Soos gave a gentle nudge and a wink to the flustered Dipper, getting a half-smile back. "Wonder who that could be hmmm??" Mabel laughed as she sat down next to her brother, receiving a light punch on her arm. 

"That would be no one, thank you very much," speaking sternly, the scruffy chined pines twin crossed his arms in protest. Although deep down it felt like he wasn't being honest. He didn't want to pay attention to it, but it was still there, knawing at him slowly. "Oh dudes, by the way, just gotta give you a warning," Soos spoke up, a little serious look in his eyes. 

"What is it?" Mabel asked curiously. It was odd for Soos to act serious like this, both twins looked at each other in confusion. "Well, there's been a couple of animal corpses appearing recently. The Sheriff's department thinks there might be a bear in the area so I just want you dudes to be safe," He looked concerned, almost as if he was a parent. The twins nodded, giving Soos the good old ' _We got it, Don't Worry_ ' look. 

"In other news, the sun should be setting any moment now!" Any worries the group had faded, as their attention was focused on the setting sun. As Soos was occupied being all Lovey-Dovey with Melody, Mabel sat down next to her brother and not-so-smoothly leaned over to him, whispering in his ear. 

"Where did Wendy go?"

"She's gone home for the day," Her brother replied in a monotone voice. 

She quickly deflates. "Oh come on, that's no fun at all..." 

The group sat and watched as the sky got darker and darker, hearing the crickets chirp as the air got quieter, there was nothing like a summer night. The air was warm still, as expected. Sunsets are great, some people will say stuff like, ' _ah yes, I am watching the sun, yup this is a sunset,_ ' but it's different when you're in the moment, it just feels nice you know? 

Soos raised his beer, and we all followed suit, the twins had Pitt Colas since alcohol was out of the question. They all gave cheers to being back in the Falls, Soos giving some Woop Woop sounds into the night. Suddenly Dippers' phone pinged. He looked to see it was a message from Wendy. 

**Wendy** : Hey, wanna come over for a movie night? 

He wasn't sure what to say, he wasn't used to all this texting stuff still. Mabel looked over and read the message. "Go enjoy yourself bro-bro, you don't have to stay you know," Waving her hand as if she was shooing him away, permitting him to bail. "Thanks Mabel!" An excited smile spreading on his face. 

**Dipper** : Sure thing, I'll be over as soon as I can!

**Wendy** : See ya soon dude.

Dipper gave Mabel a thumbs up and apologized to Soos, telling him he was gonna go to see Wendy. He gave a thumbs up and nodded, "Remember to stay careful!" Melody chimed in. "Yes yes, I shan't break curfew," Dipper laughed, climbing down the ladder carefully as not to slip. It'd been ages since he had a movie with her...

Meanwhile, Wendy was sat on her couch, holding her favorite pillow, ' _I hope he makes it here alright_ ' Her mind worried, she didn't think about him having to walk through the dark. She couldn't help but stir with worry. Crap, she should've offered to give him a lift... 

It was just after 9:20 pm, he better not have gotten lost. All of a sudden, a loud knocking came from her door. Springing up from her couch, she swiftly walked towards the main hallway. Unlocking the door, she was relieved to see Dipper shyly standing there.

"Hey," He waved awkwardly, a wave of relief flowing over Wendy. "Hey dude, come on in. There's food on the table in the living room, make yourself comfy!" Wendy let out an amused chuckle, gesturing him inside. He obliged happily, following after her. Dipper looked around the house to see it hadn't changed much, just more family photos on the wall. He noticed it was quiet, no sounds of siblings running around or her dad either. 

"Where's your dad? Wouldn't he be like, coming out to give me a big manly handshake?" He jokes. "Oh he's out of town for business with the boys, lumberjack meeting, or something like that." Dipper nodded quietly, not saying anything. "It's just us in the house," She nudged him playfully as he took his shoes off, almost knocking him off his balance. 

Wendy walked back into the living room, going to the shelf under the TV and rummaging around. After satisfied with the collection she nabbed, she held out a collection of DVDs, "Take your pick, I have loads!" Without even looking he said. "Midnight Attack of the Zombie manZ?" He questioned and she gave him a proud smile. 

"Ahh, you remembered one of my favorites!" The Lumberjill giggled as she sat down next to him. "Only because the effects are so bad you can literally see the guys skin under the makeup," He quipped back. "Don't forget the dreadful acting!" She quipped back "I can't forget it, it's stuck in my brain!" The pair laughed at each other. 

Wendy plopped the rest of the DVDs on the table, sticking the movie on and the pair got comfy. He was sitting with one of his legs on the couch crossed under his other leg. He looked really cozy. Wendy couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like if she cozied up to him... Usually, in the past, we'd watch it lying at the end of my bed but it was the first time we'd sat together on the couch to watch a movie. I decided to hug my favorite pillow to take my mind off this stuff. 

"Hey, can you pass the popcorn?" He asked the distracted Wendy, bringing her back to earth. She reached for the bowl and handed it to him, but he decides to place it on the other side of him. Talk about _not_ sharing. "Whoa, not gonna share?" She asked, his face blank for a moment before letting out an embarrassed laugh. 

"Sorry I'll put it between us." 

"Nah it's cool, I don't mind."

As she says this, she gently rests her head on his shoulder, not daring to take her eyes off of the screen as terrible looking zombies broke out of their graves. "This way I can be comfy _and_ have some grub," He didn't respond, she quickly looked up to see his face and he looked kinda nervous. 

"I can move if you want?" Making him feel uncomfortable was the last thing she wanted, she started to feel bad. Crap, she should move, like right now. "No no it's fine, I like it..." Oh. He doesn't mind, in fact, he was smiling sweetly, resulting in her face going bright red. Good thing it was dark. Wendy shifted her attention back to the movie, "That's good..." She chirped happily and they stayed like that for the rest of the movie... 

*A couple of hours later* 

As the third movie finished and the credits were rolling, they got up to stretch, they hadn't moved in so long it felt like they'd went stuff. "I think it's time I get back home, I don't wanna show up in the morning or anything," Dipper talked as he yawned, it was hilarious. Wendy nodded in agreement, "I'll walk you back home dude, don't worry!" Wendy checked the clock for the time, realizing it was past midnight. 

We both put on our shoes and left the house, making sure to lock the door on my way out as well. Wendy would've driven Dipper back, but she wasn't thinking ahead when she got beers for her and Dipper. They started walking through the forest, it was the quickest way back home for him. The path was lit up so there weren't any worries. 

We had been walking for a while until we got onto a bit of the path where there wasn't as much light, it made looking at the sky easier to do. The stars were fully out tonight, it was almost a full moon and no clouds in sight.

"The night time here is so beautiful" Dipper spoke softly as he gazed towards the sky, honestly the look on his face as he gazed at the stars was... cute. "Look there's the Big Dipper!" He pointed, I followed his point to see it, reminding me of the birthmark on his forehead. ' _I wonder if it's still there_ ,' I thought to myself. She knows it was a silly thing to think about but he could've gotten it laser removed? She wanted to see... She hoped it isn't gone. 

She lifted his hat gently moving his hair with her hand... it was still there. "Hey...." He looked back towards Wendy, resting his hand on hers. "Why would you wanna look at something ugly like that?" He asked softly. She wasn't mad that he said it was ugly, She knows how self-conscious he is of it. She would be as well if she had it.

"It's not ugly, nothing about you is. It's... you." Slowly she took her hand off his forehead, but his hand was still holding onto hers. They both stared at each other for what felt like ages. ' _Wendy what are you doing!_ ' Her mind screamed at her, both just stayed staring at each other.

Suddenly, there was a sound off in the distance, like a branch snapping. "What was that?" Dipper exclaimed. we both snapped out of whatever _that_ was. "I don't know, is someone there?!" I called out in the general direction of the noise. It was quiet for a moment, then there was what I could only describe as a blood-curdling growl. 

"Dipper" She turned to him and he looked back, "Do you think it might be that bear that's been attacking the wildlife?" He Questioned and I shook my head. "I've never heard a bear growl like _that_ before," She said confidently in her knowledge. Suddenly, something darted past them. It was too fast to see what it was. 

"Dipper, what the hell was that?" Shakily she asked, he shook his head not knowing what it was either. Dipper started to back up slowly, careful not to alert it. But Wendy couldn't. Her feet wouldn't move. "Come on, we're getting out of here!" He grabbed the stationary redhead and started running. They could hear the growling behind, following us as they tried to run.

"Dipper, I don't know what that is," 

We continued to run as it followed, "I don't know either, but it's hostile." 

At one point Dipper stumbled, falling over. "Come on, we gotta move!" helping then teen up to his feet, Wendy took the lead, running down the path and quickly changing direction so they could get to the shack faster. They were now in the forest and off the path. They kept running and they could see the Mystery Shack ahead, but twigs and sticks crunching sounds were getting closer behind. 

Finally, the two made it back to the shack, stumbling up to the porch and grabbing onto the door. They got inside, both of them panting as they tried to catch their breath. "Thank god Soos left it unlocked," Wendy let out a sigh of relief, now locking it with the spare keys on the table. "Stay here," Dipper said as he went towards the window. "What are you doing?" She asked him and he just held his finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet. 

"Tryna see if I can spot it," He looked out the window, scanning the trees. Wendy moved closer to him and saw something move in the bushes. Suddenly, they heard a loud howl, almost like a wolf's howl and all went quiet. They stayed like this for felt like ages, in reality, it was just 15 minutes. 

"Are you alright, are you hurt?" Dipper hurriedly moved towards her, checking to see if she was okay. It was really sweet, she nodded "I'm fine, are you hurt?" He shook his head "I'm fine." 

We both gave a heavy sigh of relief, "Whatever it was, you ain't going back outside tonight." 

"Are you sure? I don't have anywhere to sleep..." 

"I have the second bed in my room still, you can use that" The teen shrugged. 

I gave him a warm smile, "Thanks Dipper," He shrugged it off, acting the tough guy. They quietly walked around the bottom floor to check if anyone was still up and everyone had already left to go to bed. "I don't have any clothes to wear to bed," Wendy told him and he sighed. "You can have a pair of my shorts and a big top I have?" Her face flushed little but she nodded. 

She accepted his offering and was careful not to step on any of the creaks on the floor on her way to the bathroom. After getting changed, she was surprised at just how big this top was. It was almost down to her knees! She stepped out of the bathroom quietly and walked towards his room. I saw dipper looking out of the window, checking to see if it was still there. 

"Hey, it's gone now..." She placed her hand on his arm as he looked back at me. "I know, I just-" But before he could finish, Wendy cut him off. "No buts or justs, thanks for tonight man. If you didn't grab my hand and started running I think I wouldn't have moved..." He smiled sheepishly. "It was nothing" He laughed it off and she sighed. 

"Okay tough guy," They both laughed softly before going quiet. Wendy turned towards her bed for the night, preparing to get it ready for the night. but Dipper said something that made her chest tighten. "I'm just glad you're okay, I... I don't know what I would've done if something happened to you..." 

She'd never heard him sound so worried, it wasn't fair. She was worried too. She was so scared. She could tell he was scared too. She was just staying strong till now but... She didn't know what that thing was, it was so quick. If it had attacked us they wouldn't have been able to react. She felt so defenseless, so weak at that moment. She clenched her fists hard and turned back around, quickly walking over to him. 

"Don't say stuff like that," She scolded him and wrapped her arms around him hugging tightly "You idiot..." She spoke softer this time, letting the emotions she was feeling show. He hugged her back gently "It's alright Wendy," His voice spoke calmly, it was soothing to hear. They stayed like that for a few moments.

however, deep in the forests of Gravity Falls, something howled towards the starry night sky...


	4. Late Night Thoughts

"Honestly, you're such an idiot," He doesn't react badly to these words. Wendy can't say anything else to him, she couldn't. They've just been like this for the past five minutes. All she could think of was how badly tonight could have gone. 

"Is everything okay Wendy" The tone is his voice had a hint of worry in it. In a way it made her feel safer. She silently nodded and clenched his shirt tighter, he gently rubbed Wendy's back, a sort of way to let the redhead know it would be okay without saying anything. 

"You were really brave today, Dipper."

"You kidding me? I was just as scared as you were."  
  
Silence fell in the room again. Wendy opened her eyes and looked forward, her eyes making contact with the wall. His shoulders relaxed a little, but Dipper kept a hold of her. The silence in the room wasn't all that awkward, but Wendy felt that the hug was going on for too long. 

' _Okay, now is probably a good time to let go of him,_ ' Wendy's thoughts echoed inside her head. She's always been one to listen to her conscience, but this time she didn't want to. she wanted to keep holding him. 

Albeit, against her will a little bit, she let go. Dipper's arms stayed around her for a couple of moments afterward, but he did the same. He let out a little awkward laugh, it put a small smile on Wendy's face. 

"Maybe it's time we should get some sleep?" Wendy looked at the clock to see it was almost 2 am. She nodded "Yeah that seems like a good idea." 

They both went off into their little worlds, by little worlds it was just getting ready to sleep. Wendy had to make her bed since it was a bit of a mess, she grabbed the duvet out of the closet and swiftly made her bed. 

"Yo, Dipper?" 

"What's up." She looked over at him to see him sitting in his bed, book in hand reading. He didn't look up at her after his reply, which she found sort of cute. He looked so engrossed in his book, she almost didn't want to say anything to distract him. _Almost_. 

"You haven't changed out of your clothes from today," She mused, his fixation on his book dropped and he looked down at himself to realize this. 

He let out a grumpy groan and dropped his book next to him. "I hate getting up, especially when I got comfortable!"

"Well, maybe you should remember to do everything _before_ you get into your bed."

He visibly rolled her eyes, letting Wendy know that it was intentional. It was a classic _Dipper Pines_ maneuver, a pure classic she saw coming. Although, when he started taking his top off as Wendy watched, you could say it more than caught her by surprise. 

The mixture of watching him take his top off, with the added bonus of _not_ looking away from him made it all the more embarrassing for her. The heat rising from her cheeks didn't help. 

' _Why the hell am I getting flustered? You've seen plenty of guys topless before! You've seen Dipper topless before too!_ ' her mind screamed at her. Millions of little Wendy's singing in unison as she watched on.

As he put on a big comfy looking top, she diverted her eyesight towards her bed for the night and crawled into it. Dipper grabbed a pair of shorts and walks to the bathroom. After a quick minute, he returns and flicks the light switch, and suddenly the light in the room was no more. The only light was from the moon in the sky, shining in from the window. 

Dipper crawled in his as well, picking his book back up. He sat and read, the light from the moon shining onto it which made it easy for him to enjoy his book. Wendy, being the curious person she was, lied there and watched him as he did. 

She watched as he turned the page slowly, thankfully he wasn't one of those people who lick their finger before turning _every_ page. His focus was something else, off in his little Dipper world reading his book. 

"Do you always read so late at night?"  
  
"Sometimes, yeah. I don't always get the chance to read so I like to make time."  
  
"That's really cool, I don't tend to read much"   
  
Dipper let out a little chuckle as a response to her. She puffed her cheeks as she realized he was making a ' _Nah didn't think you would_ ' joke. The little chuckle he let out was enough proof. Still, though, he didn't avert his eyes from his book, but... he wasn't acting like she _was_ annoying him while he read.

_'I guess it's fine to keep making conversation_.'

Before she could open her mouth to say something, he closed his book and put it onto the mantle next to his bed. 

"Sorry, I hope it doesn't seem like I'm ignoring you or not giving my full attention,"  
  
She shook her head at him "No, no it's fine. I don't mind..."

Although, it was getting pretty late. So it was probably a good idea to get some sleep. This was also what was going through Dippers' head. But, Wendy _did_ like watching him read his book too.

_'Wendy, what is with you today??? Why is it, that ever since Dipper came back, your head has been in a spin!?!?!_ ' her thoughts questioned her, as if she wasn't looking for the answer herself. Her heart as well, almost at times feeling tighter within his presence. 

Throughout her hopeless train of thought, which by the way was on the next stop to nowhere, she didn't realize she was looking straight at Dipper as she thought to herself. 

"Uhh Wendy, you good?" He questioned the more than troubled redhead at this time, snapping her back to the reality she existed in. "Oh what?? Pff yeah of course I am, just tired as hell" replying a bit drastic with her words, Dipper just nodded. 

"Maybe we should get some sleep, don't wanna keep you up Dip"

"You know I wouldn't mind"  
  
"Oh shut up" Picking up a spare pillow, she threw it at the dorky boy in front of her. Catching it, he quickly threw it back, although it was more of a gentle pass than anything. 

"Goodnight Wendy."  
  
"Night Dipper."

And with that, they both turned round in their bed. Both facing their respective walls, backs facing each other in the silent room. The Mystery Shack silent as a falling feather. 

Wendy lay there thinking to herself, just random thoughts, but thoughts nonetheless. But then, thoughts of what happened tonight starting creeping back into her mind. ' _what the hell was that thing_ ' she questioned herself. 

Time seemed to pass fast as she lay there, thinking... and thinking. She decided to give it a rest, a lot of weird stuff happens in this town after all. Her mind went to Dipper. Oh, great. Back to Dipper are we? Thanks, mind. 

She sighed mentally as she knew it was futile to win the battle between her and her stupid mind. Although it's been so long since she's seen Dipper, she really is glad her dork is back. Wait. _Her_ dork? Why does thinking that cause her chest tighten?   
  
She honestly didn't know why, it's not like she's felt like this before. All of a sudden, she got a sudden fright from Dipper as he piped up. "Hey, Wendy?" She lay there silent for a moment. 

"Y-Yeah?"  
  
"Are you still awake."  
  
She couldn't help but stifle a laugh. 

"I wouldn't answer if I wasn't awake." She laughed at the teen. 

"Shut up," He laughed back, a small hint of embarrassment in his voice. 

"Why're you still up?" His voice changed to a more serious tone. Not serious as in a parent asking their kid why the hell are they still up playing DS at 2 in the morning, more of a just, I couldn't explain it. Like curiosity, but no humor to be found. 

"I just can't sleep" She lied. A million things are going on in her mind right now Dipper, how could she possibly sleep? With that thing we saw, worrying about it, especially worrying about _you_!

Suddenly, it felt like a gear had just started moving again in her mind. But before the rest of the gears could move, she was met with a grinding halt. 

"I can't either. I can't get that... thing out of my mind." He spoke solemnly, suddenly when she thought back to when he said he was ' _just as scared as you were_ '.... he was more scared than he let on. 

With a swift movement, like an animal following its instinct, Wendy sat up of her bed and turned to face Dippers. She got up, performing the necessary dance to navigate her way through the dark and to avoid tripping over anything that lay in her way. 

"Hey..." She speaks as she reaches her destination, his bed. Her voice kind of timid. "Is it cool if I join you for a bit?" 

He hesitates for a while, but nods. She lifts the duvet he lies under and slips into his creaky bed next to him. His back is still facing the wall but honestly, she didn't mind. she wrapped an arm around his waist, his shoulders stiffening up as she did so. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"  
  
"No it's all right, it was just sudden is all."

And with that, his shoulders relaxed a little. She couldn't tell if she was breaching any kind of personal bubbles, but honestly, she thinks he just needs the comfort. She did as well. 

"Thank you, Wendy."  
  
Those three little words were enough to have millions of little butterflies go wild in her stomach, but she does her best to ignore it. She holds him a bit tighter, and her eyelids start to fall fast. 

Before the two knew it, they were both sound asleep, in each other's company...


	5. Relentless Questions

It must've been the third or fourth time now that Mabel checked her phone, still nothing. She was met only with no notifications, well apart from the notifications from Instagram but that wasn't what she was waiting on. 

She gives a slightly annoyed sigh, turning her screen off and chucking the phone onto the bed as she went back to working on her latest fashion design. She was tryna come up with some cute top to wear for herself, something that just screamed ' _Mabel Pines made this._ '

Although, it wasn't helping that it was past midnight and Dipper _still_ hasn't messaged her. Seriously, couldn't do him any harm to give her a little update on his night? Maybe a ' _Me and Wendy total started making out while cheesy 80s music played in the background_.'

Okay, that's a bit of an over-exaggeration. Her brother gets all red-faced flustered -robot cannot compute- mode whenever she asks him about girls. But it wouldn't _kill_ him to at least tell her when he was coming back home. He's being a bit of a butt. 

A defeated, ' _unable to focus on her fashion and giving up'_ sigh puffs out of Mabel's nose as she leans back in her chair. I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to text him, but she _doesn't_ wanna be the reason that could potentially kill the mood. 

Like, when you're about to have that first kiss with a boy you like and your mum just _has_ to call you at the moment before it happens, destroying all the tension. If there's one thing that Mabel Pines is not, it is a mood killer. 

Blargh. Screw it, she wasn't staying up any longer. As she stood up, almost fumbling over her own feet in her brand spanking new room, that not to mention she has decorated, she gets ready for some well-deserved sleep. If her dorkus Maximus brother decides to message her now, it's too late. 

The light flicks off, leaving her room in almost darkness, a nice dim light awaits her at her bed. She brought some little lights to wrap around her room, which was a plan she had ever since the twins found out they were getting to come back to the Falls this year. She could not emphasize enough how ecstatic she was when she saw her bed had railings on it. 

Needless to say, the fairy lights were wrapped around her bed frame faster than Dipper scrambling about after you catch him singing to BABBA. She lay down in her snuggly little bed, grabbing a nearby pillow pet she was given as a gift a couple of years ago. It was a little pig, her Waddles 2.0 after her beloved waddles passed away.

A nice dim light, provided by her lovely fairy lights, gave Mabel a nice cozy atmosphere as she sat in the silence of her new temporary room for this summer. She sat scrolling through her phone, looking at Pinterest for any ideas or nice designs, finding a couple but nothing outstanding to her. 

After a good 20 or so minutes, she lets out a super-duper sleepy yawn. Holy cupcakes with sprinkles on top, she's more tired than she realizes. After taking one more look at the time, only to show it was almost 1:30 am, she let out one last yawn and set her phone down onto her nightstand. 

Resting her head down onto her pillow, she lets herself drift off to sleep, to dream about sprinkles and donuts and super pretty boys who wanna take her on mega-awesome dates... Or she would if there wasn't a loud bang coming from downstairs. 

Immediately, she grabs Waddles 2.0 and shoves him on top of her face, letting an annoyed groan out into it, getting muffled by Waddles 2.0 in the process. Thank you kindly Waddles 2.0. Dipper, I love you broski, but you really gotta figure out better timings for things. 

She props herself up from lying down in her bed, listening out for her brother to come climbing upstairs. She hears nothing. That's odd, usually, he'd be clambering up the stairs hoping no one was still up to give him an earful. Sucks for him, she was up, but she wasn't gonna give him an earful. 

Oh ho ho ho. No. Something much worse. She was gonna grill him for details of his little night with Wendy. She sat up in her bed waiting for him to come up the stairs. Still nothing. Come onnnnnn, it's been like 15 minutes already! Don't tell me he's making some food? Wendy should've had the food covered! Bad host Wendy, shameeeee. 

"Come on, everyone's asleep" a hushed Dipper whispers. Who the fricken' flip flaps is he talking too? Mabel pondered as she stood up and slowly crept towards the door that is currently shut. She carefully leaned her ear against the door, careful not to make any banging sounds to alert her presence. She hears footsteps on the old creaky floorboards, but it's definitely more than just one pair of feet she hears. 

She listens carefully, Dippers room door opens and she can hardly make out what they're saying. One voice is louder than the other. She can hear Dippers voice better, she has gotten used to hearing him mumble to himself and all that junk after all. "You can have a pair of my shorts and a big top I have?", Mabel's eyes widen in surprise. Whoa bro, what the heck and doodles? 

She intensively Listens in, trying to see if she can squeeze in anything else to hear. She knows she's being nosy, but by god or umm, gods I guess? Maybe? Yeah, let's go with that. By the gods above, Mabel pines _needs_ gossip. It's how she's able to breathe and function, no gossip equals a dystopia in Mabel Pines' world. 

She hears someone walk back down towards the bathroom, and after a couple of minutes comes back out. Not very exciting, at all. Ughhhhhh, come on, gimme more than that! Standing there for what feels like, way, wayyyyy too long, Mabel checks her phone again. 

Holy crap she's been standing here listening for like, 30 minutes! Okay, that's way too long indeed. An idea sparks in her mind ' _What if I pretend to go to the bathroom so I can scope out the scene?? Ho ho ho, delightfully devilish, Mabel'_ She giggles quietly to herself at the crappy Simpsons reference she made, Dipper would love that one. 

Twisting the door handle gently, Mabel slowly opens the door, peeking her head out as if she was in a stealth mission. One wrong move and it's over. It's time for operation 'Find out what the hell is going on.'

She sneaks out into the hallway, careful to not stand on the creaky floorboards, which needless to say is so goddamn difficult when you don't know which floorboard is and isn't creaky. After a couple of trial and error steps, she advances towards her dorky brothers' humble abode. 

As she almost arrives at her destination, a gut-wrenching sounding creak emerges from underneath her feet. Oh no. Oh no no no no no. You gotta be kidding me!! She's this far into her mission and she messes up at which is the most crucial point? Oh, butts. 

She stands there like a deer in headlights, body not moving. Fight or flight responses going back and forth within her own mind. If she runs back now, there's a chance she can make it back to her bed before Dipper catches her tryna snoop around, but if she stays still, there's a chance he didn't hear anything anyway. 

After a hard swallow, she sticks to her guns and stays put, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her forehead. Nothing, no sounds indicating Dipper heard her, she is in the clear. We're in the clear people!!! She celebrates, doing the quietest fist bump into the air that she could muster. 

Sucking in a breath and mustering all the courage she could, Mabel slowly opens the door to Dippers' room, extremely slowly, and extremely nervous about how close she is to getting both caught and seeing what the heck is going on. She widens the door enough so that she can get a little peek into her twin brother's room.

It's quiet, but more than that it's really dark! Sometimes she forgets not everyone sleeps with fairy lights on in their room. As Mabels eyes focus, she starts to get used to the darkness of Dippers' room, her eyes peering towards his bed but..... why is Wendy lying there with him. 

Wait. What. 

WHAT?!

Mabel quickly covers her mouth fast, muffling any form of squeal her body was trying to let out. How is this happening!!! It's only been one day!? Dipper Pines, since when was this a thing??? Look at you go broseph!! This was one of those proud sister moments. 

Although, they were being really flirty today. Like, reaaaally flirty. It was kind of hard _not_ to notice really. Mabel shook her to clear her thoughts. There's no way this is a thing. As Mabel tries to process this all, she takes another close look to notice Wendy has her arm wrapped around him. 

'OH MY GOD,' Her mind screams, the encore of tiny Mabels' sing in choirs. But why is she staying here, they could've just as easily stayed over at hers, there's no reason to walk Dipper back here and just stay??? 

Mabel shook her head again. That doesn't matter right now. She'll get her answers tomorrow, that's for sure. She won't let Dipper get outta this grilling session this time. But, she's tired. Way too tired, like, holy pancakes she feels like even the floor would be comfortable. 

Before Mabel shuts the door, she looks at Dipper and notices how happy and cozy he looks. She can't help but give a warm smile. She shuts the door quietly, she doesn't wanna disrupt the sleepy couple after all. Hehehe, good one Mabel. She yawns, gives herself a sleepy high five and sleepily drifts back to her room, the second she touches her bed it was lights out, although her fairy lights stayed on throughout the night...

>>>>

It was a beautiful morning in Gravity Falls, the sun was out with hardly any clouds in the sky. The breeze was gentle, the perfect summer day. It was so amazing in fact, the birds were chirping and tweeting. Unfortunately for Dipper, the chirping wakes him up. 'Stupid birds, can't they tell I'm tryna sleep?' Dipper thinks angrily to himself, going to turn onto his side as he lies in his bed. 

Before he does, he notices a hand on his chest. It's smaller than his, paler too. Oh, right. Wendy. His heart rate rises a bit, but nothing too crazy, just him being a nervous idiot for no reason whatsoever. He turns his head softly to see Wendy's sleeping face facing his. 

In fact, their faces were close. Really close, too close in fact. Close enough that he could count all the small freckles on her cheeks, he never really noticed them before but holy hell if they weren't cute. He smiles a giddy little smile to himself. 

His eyes, however, can't stop looking at her. Is this weird? It's so totally weird, isn't it? Like, watching someone when they sleep, come on Dip. But... He can't stop, he doesn't want to. His eyes drift down to her lips, they were so beautiful. Her rosy lips that are just there, in front of him, as if they were glistening. 

He can't help but swallow hard, what if he... And then, like an animal that's running on instinct, he starts moving closer. he doesn't really acknowledge what he's doing, but he doesn't care. His eyelids start to close slowly as his nose brushes against hers gently. 

"Dipper?" A soft-spoken, groggy Wendy says as she stirs awake. Dippers' eyes shoot open, feeling like he was a dear caught in headlights. He sees Wendy rubbing her eyes as she starts to wake up, his face red with embarrassment and shame.

"G'morning" Wendy smiles sweetly at him, laying her head down again to face his. Holy shit that was the cutest thing he's ever seen, like ever. His embarrassment fades as this cute side of Wendy gives him a sort of reassuring gesture, it eases him. "Morning" He smiles back at the sleepy redhead next to him. 

They stared for a moment before Wendy went to rub her eye again. "Look, eye booger!" She points her finger towards Dipper, to his not-so-surprise there was full-on eye boogeridge all up in my face. "Get your booger infested finger outta my face!!" Dipper laughs as he leans his head far away from her finger. 

"Awh come on, what's wrong? Ain't ya hungry Dip?" She muses at my recoil from her, Dipper fake barfs everywhere in reply as he dramatically pretends to spill his guts. They both pause and start laughing like mad, amused at each other's silliness.

"You're ridiculous" Wendy snorts as she continues to laugh, clearly Mabel making him help with her acting lines paid off. "Whoa now, that's just rude," He says as I tickle her sides, she erupts in giggly fits as he doesn't let up. "N-No I'm too ticklish!" She squeals as Dipper continues to tickle her. 

This continues for a short while, Wendy's giggles only increasing. "D-Dipper nooo! I can't breathe!" She says through her giggles, this is enough to make him stop temporarily, which was a big mistake. Suddenly, Wendy flips him over and holds him down, sitting on top of the caught off guard teenager. 

"Not so tough now, are ya?" Wendy's voice cocky, knowing she won this feud. Her hands had made their way to his wrists, holding them down above the teens head. He just stared as Wendy caught her breath, her face hanging low near hers. After recovering, their eyes came to meet as Wendy looked at the scruffy chinned teen. 

A shade of red crept up Dippers' face, as did Wendy's. "Sorry!" Wendy let go of his wrists, getting up out of the bed in a hurry. Her face at this point crimson, much to Dippers amusement. "Well, it's about time we got up anyways," Wendy hastily says, much to Dippers chagrin. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, not wanting to get up yet. Well, in reality, he just wanted to spend more time with her. 

"I'll go get changed, see ya downstairs for breakfast yeah? My treat," Wendy winks towards him, he nods with a smile on his face. After she was out of sight, Dipper flops back on his bed, dragging his hands down his face in frustration. ' _Well done Dip, that was smooth. so smoooooth ya idiot!_ ' He groans as he sits up, his bed now feeling empty even though it fits only one person. 

After 5 minutes of trying to make himself look somewhat decent (Aka, putting on the first pair of clean clothes he could find and fixing his bed head), he left to go down to the kitchen. He could hear laughter, probably Wendy and Mabel. He let out a yawn as he made it to the bottom of the stairs, guess he was more tired than he thought. 

"Yo Dipping sauce, get in here!" His sister calls to him, beckoning him to come to the kitchen. I walk into the kitchen to be greeted with a plate of pancakes, prepared by none other than Wendy herself. "Eat up dude" She beams at me, already digging into hers. "Thanks, Wendy" I chuckle as I dig in myself, out of the corner of my eye I see Mabel calmly sipping tea. 

I immediately check again to make sure it was tea. Oh no. not tea, anything but tea. Tea was Mabels' sign of "I'm gonna grill you for answers" On something. It was like the calm before the storm, which is ironic as tea is supposed to make you feel calm, but for me, it's the opposite. Well only when it's in Mabel's possession.

"Sooooo Wendy, what're you doing here so early? Work doesn't start for another few hours" Mabel chirps up, I slowly start to think of ways to combat this. "Oh, Dipper let me stay the night no biggie," Wendy says without looking up from her food, clearly too invested in the meal to see what's going on. 

"Oh really? Where did you sleep? I thought we had no spare rooms" 

"Dipper had a spare bed, I slept in it. Wait, that would've been your old bed!" 

Wendy laughs as she points her fork towards Mabel. Nodding and laughing along, Mabel seemed fine, but her facial expression screamed she wasn't satisfied with that answer. It was the way she looked at him, it was as if daggers were piercing his heart. 

Dipper slowly slouched back into his seat, hoping his sister wouldn't ask him anything. The atmosphere at the table was crushing, and it was like he was the only one that noticed. On one side of him sat Wendy, too distracted in her breakfast to care, on the other side there's Mabel giving him the biggest glare ever. 

"Ahh man, that was so gooood!" Leaning back in her chair, Wendy let out a satisfied yawn as she pats her stomach. She sticks her arms up in the air and stretches "Think I'm gonna head home, I've got stuff to do around the house." 

Dipper sat back up in his seat, worry taking over her body. His mind was playing flashbacks from the night before, the thing that attacked them in the woods. Before he even noticed, Wendy has picked up something was wrong. Must've been the major worrywart face Dipper was showcasing to the whole world.

Wendy was puzzled. "What's up?" Her tone was confused, looking into his dark brown inquisitive eyes for an answer. "W-Well you know, it's just last night n all you know... You'll be fine walking home?" Dammit Dipper, couldn't you have said that better? 

A smile formed on Wendy's face, her confidence sometimes. "Yeah, I'll be fine, don't worry yourself." She stood up and he let go of her, he couldn't help but worry but he'll take her word on it. Dipper walked with her to the door, not even bothering to give Mabel any sort of attention right now, much to her chagrin. 

"Text me when you get home yeah?" 

"Dawwww look at you! It's as if you were my boyfriend!" 

Dippers' brows flew up at this statement, almost in shock but more in embarrassment as he realizes he has. 

"O-Oh um, uh" Before he knew it he was a bumbling mess, he couldn't come up with anything to say. Wendy just lightly laughed at him with a hand covering her mouth, obviously, she just found this amusing, as she does with every inconvenience that seems to just come in his way. 

"Calm down, I'm just winding you up"

Crossing his arms, Dipper just huffs at her, feigning annoyance. She sighs and rolls her eyes, shaking her head as Dipper continues his fake grumpiness. "Fine, I'm sorry, you happy?" Finally giving in, she apologized. 

"Most definitely" He grins at her, her face looking unimpressed but she smiles nonetheless. "See ya later dude. Oh, and have fun with Mabel interrogating you~" blowing a raspberry at him as she swiftly walks away, Dipper realizes that not only did Wendy notice Mabel's attempts to interrogate her, she was just pretending to be oblivious to the whole situation. 

He knew she was good, but sometimes Wendy still manages to surprise him. Her quick wit and amazing ability as a tactician have saved His butt more times than he can remember. Probably more times than he's saved hers. He makes a mental note of that as he waves her off. After she's outta sight, he turns back and returns to the Shack. 

He shuts the Shacks door, begrudgingly jaunts back into the hall, wary of his sister. He waves a hello to Melody and Soos as they get on with setting up the Shack for today's tours and the likes. Honestly, it was a fresh sight to behold, he can't remember the Shacks business being this proficient before. He can't tell if this was a good thing or if Stan would die from a heart attack. 

In a sudden blink of an eye, he had been grabbed and dragged towards the living room. Turning his head to see who the hell had captured him, only to see it was none other than his sister, eager for some answers. She dropped him on the couch with a not so soft landing, making a loud thud noise as he landed. 

"Mabel what the hell!"

"Don't 'What the hell!', Me! Answers. Now" 

Letting out a heavy sigh, Dipper leaned forward, moving his fingers to massage his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose. "You don't let up do you?" He questioned his eager sister, she let out a cheeky grin and blew a raspberry at her. Ugh. 

"Listen bro bro, I know you ain't telling the truth. Now I demand the truth and nothing but the truth." 

"You already got all the answers you were looking for!" 

"Don't lie to me! I know you are!" 

Dipper lets out a frustrated groan in response to his sister's relentless queries, dragging his hands down his face. 

"I saw you n Wendy last night in your room"

"Yeah, so?" 

Mabel doesn't reply, instead of standing with her arms crossed, leaning on one of her hips. Her eyebrows were raised. She let out a frustrated blargh at Dipper's refusal to speak. 

"In the same bed." 

Oh. 

Oh shit. 

All color that was resonated from Dippers' face drained as he realized what his sister had seen, and what is probably going through her mind. She obviously has the wrong idea. 

"Mabel..."

"Since when was that a thing? Why didn't you let me know Dip! Has it been going on for ages? When did you start-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Dipper had swiftly thrown a pillow at her face to shut her up before she could even continue. 

"Dipper what the hell!" 

"First off, we are NOT dating or anything like that. Period"

Mabel scoffs at him, "Doesn't explain the cuddling I saw last night Dipper. That was some MAJOR cuddlage going on." 

"Right listen, I can explain that. Just hear me out and don't talk till I'm done, okay?"

From the gestures of his twin, he could tell she was thinking it over. After a small moment, she nodded her head and gestured with her hand for him to continue. 

"Right, last night Wendy was walking me back home, we decided to go through the forest since it was the quickest way, and well..." He paused for a moment, thinking back to what he and Wendy had encountered. Maybe gestured him to go on, signaling him to hurry up. 

"We ran into something, or rather, we saw something. We couldn't make out what it was, we thought it was that bear going around killing animals. It didn't attack us, we fled before it could really. It chased us back to the Shack, luckily we got inside before we got to figure out what it was, but..." 

"But what?"

"Mabel, I don't think it's a bear that's killing all those animals." After finishing his statement, Mabel threw her brows up in surprise. I guess it was enough to throw her off her interrogation groove. 

"And by something, do you mean..."

"Yeah. I think something supernatural." 

Suddenly the room had gone quiet. It hasn't even been half a week and already something unnatural has appeared back in our lives. Last time it was a bunch of gnomes, but this time... It feels more dangerous. 

"Dipper, this could only mean one thing..."

"What?" 

All of a sudden, Mabel throws her hands in the air looking absolutely ecstatic. "The Mystery Twins are back!" She squeals in excitement. I let out an amused sigh and nod "And better than ever before," Honestly the Twins hadn't done any Mystery Twins action in some time. They took a break from it all to focus on school life and all that jazzy teen stuff. 

"But wait, that doesn't explain why Wendy was all up in your bed my good sir." 

Mabel's words bring Dipper right back to the point he was before, back in the grill zone. He let out another sigh. 

"Well, we were both kind of shaken by it all. She was just giving me comfort okay? Nothing more than that Mabel." The scruffy teen looked at her sister to see what she was gonna say. He was being honest, he knows his twin, she knows when he's being honest. 

She nodded her head and he gave a sigh of relief. Thank god, it was over. "I believe you. But listen bro, I can still tell you like her." Dipper stiffened up a bit at those words. Like. Liked. Still like her, as in have feeling for her? No way. 

"Mabel come on stop joking."

"Urghhhh fine fine, I'm just winding you up and all that blargh stuff." 

"Anyway, on to the more important issue at hand. I dunno what that thing is, but it hasn't attacked actual people yet. But I'm not willing to wait around and find out if it will." Nodding in agreement, the Twins decide to get to work. Well, actual work, not Mystery Twins work. They have to help get the Shack ready for business after all. 

The Summer had begun, and so had their hunt for whatever had attacked Dipper and Wendy. Dipper wasn't sure how he was gonna get clues on this thing, maybe wait for another animal attack to happen, ask the locals for any sightings maybe? Urgh, this is too much junk to worry about right now. Dipper Pines didn't know it yet, but this Summer, needless to say, was gonna be eventful..... 


	6. A Boring Day at the Shack

Her fingertips tapped against her phone delicately, messaging without a care in the world. He figures she was messaging Tambry, not that it mattered though. Dipper was bored, plain and simple. Guess it was one of those days where there was no traction in the Mystery Shack, just everyone waiting on standby in case some unfortunate soul stepped foot in here. 

He was sat at the gift shop register, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the desk as he stared into nothingness. Every so often, his eyes would glide to the redhead sat next to him. He kept stealing glances of her side profile, watching her focus. 

It had officially been a week and a few days since the Pine Twins had arrived in Gravity Falls. They had been around the town, saying hi to people, eating at Lazy Susans Dinner, Dipper even hung out with Wendy more. Mabel had met up with Pacifica a couple of times, but he hadn't had the chance to see her yet. Ah well, whatever. 

It was quiet, no one talked. Sure, at the start of the shift they were chatting away like usual, but the eventual boredom of a shift with nothing happening will start to kill your energy. His eyes darted around the room, soaking in anything and everything to stop him looking at Wendy. He looked at the plush toys, the hats, books, anything to help his boredom.

He looked to the poster on the wall next to him which read, "Curiosity cures boredom. Nothing can kill curiosity." That quote alone made Dipper want to roll his eyes back, gouge them out even at how frustrating they were. 

A loud ping went off, coming from Wendy's phone. It startled Dipper at how loud it was, not that there was much noise in the room to begin with, with only the two of them on the bottom floor of the Shack it seemed. Soos said he was going shopping with Melody, they needed to get groceries he said. Mabel was probably ditching work or just lazing about. 

Eventually, it got too much, Dipper let out an exasperated groan of frustration and rested his head on the table. Wendy only let out a light giggle as he did so. She found his suffering amusing. "What's so funny?" He questions her. She only rolls her eyes, shrugging her shoulders with an ' _ I don't know what you're on about, _ ' Look on her face. 

His eyes narrow, "Don't lie to me."

"Just hilarious how you can't handle sitting still for a couple of hours..." 

"I can't help it, there's nothing to do! Nothing to hold my attention!" He exclaims. 

"Really? Could've just asked me... I'd give ya all the attention you wanted~" She retorts playfully, leaning forward and bopping Dipper on the nose with a big grin. He throws his eyebrows up in disbelief at what he just heard, soon breaking down into a state of exasperation and immense embarrassment.

Wendy let out a fit of giggles at the expense of the poor embarrassed boy next to her. "Guys are soooo easy to wind up!" She says as she continues to laugh, struggling to breathe as she holds her sides. Dipper looked away from her, not saying a word. His hands curling into fists due to how frustrated he felt. 

' _ You don't say stuff like that _ .' His thoughts argued with himself, he couldn't say anything to her. ' _ What if some guy took that the wrong way... _ ' His mind began to wander, his train of thought getting distracted from being annoyed at her, to something else. ' _ What if... I said I wanted her to? _ '

His chest tightened. What, why. Why would he? He's played this song and game before, he knows how it ends. What was he thinking? ' _ Come on Dipper, you know you're just overthinking things. _ ' His mind screamed at him, pleading with him just to get on with things and retort with her. He didn't, nothing left his mouth. 

Wendy watched the boys face, going completely blank. His mouth opens and closes, but still, he says nothing. Maybe she went a bit too far? Awh man, dammit. She watched as he reached into his pockets and took his phone out. Maybe she can change the conversation. 

"Heyyyy, you ain't supposed to be on your phone!" She playfully nudged him. 

He retorts with a smile, "Says the one who was using hers a couple of minutes ago." 

Yes! The operation, ' _ Change the conversation _ ' Is in full swing. 

"Technically I'm your supervisor, I can be on my phone if I want to." 

"Well miss supervisor, will you give me permission to use my phone for ten minutes after you just embarrassed me back there?" 

Oh man, was he using that against her already? She paused for a moment, "... I'll allow it." She says, making a super serious tone as if she was his manager. He lets out a slight laugh, before turning his attention to his phone. 

Dipper hadn't just been sitting around doing nothing for the past week and a half, he'd been keeping his eyes and ears out for any news on that thing they saw. He'd asked around town a bit, but nothing turned up. Although, since he had better access to the internet, snooping around local forums and community pages has been helpful. 

There had been a couple of sightings from different eyewitnesses. Someone said they saw something off in the distance one night near their home, they felt like they were being watched. Other than the witnesses, pictures of the dead animal corpses were floating around the forums too. 

At first, it was small animals like rodents and squirrels... But then the past couple weeks it's moved to larger things like wolves and deer. This was worrying to Dipper, it was as if it was starting small with its kills and starting to move up in the chain. It was only a matter of time before it started killing people too...

As he was scrolling through the forums, he noticed an image that he hadn't seen yet. It was blurry, really blurry actually. He could hardly make out what the hell it was, but it looked bigger than a normal human. ' _ What the hell? _ ' He peered at it, squinting his eyes to see if he could make out what it was. 

It wasn't like anything he'd seen before, it was tall but kind of hunched. It looked hairy, kind of like some beast, and what he thinks is a tail. Some kind of bigfoot? No way, that thing was faster than bigfoot. If only it was a clearer image, but he's gotta give props to the guy who took the first photo of it. He held his thumb on the image, to save it on his phone for later. 

As Dipper was distracted on his phone, Wendy watched him curiously as he did so. He was doing that cute little focus face, like the other night as he read his book. She liked it, he looked so into it, his brows were furrowed and it was as if everything around him didn't even exist. Pffft, even his tongue was sticking out a little bit. 

She leans down, resting her arms and head on the desk as she continued to be absorbed by watching this boy. He doesn't react, she bets he didn't even notice. He just continues to scroll through his phone. They stayed like that for a while, she didn't know for how long but it was comfortable, nice even. 

Did she wonder if he was still a bit annoyed at her? Maybe. Would it be too late to apologize? He probably forgot by now anyway so there's no reason to apologize. Gahhh! Why is she thinking this over so much? Get a grip of yourself girl! It's not like you ran his dog over or anything, just be like ' _ Yo, sorry Dipper my main man, my homie _ .' ... Okay, that's a little bit cringe. 

The time passed like nothing, Dipper looked at the time on his phone to see it was 14:47. Oh crap, he'd been on his phone for way more than ten minutes, it'd been like twenty! He locked his phone, placing it softly on the desk as to not make a loud sound. His eyes drifted to his side, seeing Wendy lying on the desk. 

Her eyes were focused on him, staring intently. Was she watching him all this time? Why didn't she mention anything? He could feel the embarrassment rise as he contemplated all these possibilities. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't realize he was staring right back at her, silent. 

"Hey," A little chirp from Wendy, enough to bring him back to the forefront of his consciousness. It was a short little hey, but her tone was almost childish in the way it was said. Needless to say, it was enough to turn his insides into a gooey mess. He didn't reply, instead, resting his arms and head onto the table like she was. They both stared for a moment, her eyes seemed so intent, with such wonder in them. 

He wasn't sure how to reply, the gears in his head whirring to think of something to say. "Hey." Was his reply, he didn't know  _ why _ that was his reply but... It felt right. Her eyes widened a bit, but she immediately went into a happy little grin as if she was some kind of toddler. That smile... God, that smile. It was so contagious, he couldn't help but do the same. 

"Are you copying everything I do?" Wendy asked the cute boy smiling widely in front of her, it gave her chills. His smile was something else, urgh! Why is it so cute! Why does she think it's so cute? "Are you copying everything  _ I _ do?" He replied, the goddamn cheek of this boy. She sat up and flicked him on the forehead, "Ow!" He cried out. 

"Don't copy me."

"Fine! I'll just listen to music then..." 

And with that, he pulled out a pair of earphones and put them in. All went quiet again, except now Dipper was blocked off too. Wendy looked around the shack floor, still empty. She hates the slow days, they drained away her life force. She looked back to Dipper, he was bobbing his head gently as he tapped the desk with rhythm. 

' _ What is he listening to? _ ' Her mind wandered, she'd always been an avid music lover, mostly the Indie stuff. Hell, she wouldn't read Indie Fuzz if she  _ didn't _ like Indie music. Well, nowadays she mostly just digs any rock music but Indie will always have a place in her heart... and she realizes she's rambling to herself mentally. 

Was he listening to BABBA? ' _ Pfft probably, that's the type of music he likes anyway. _ ' Her curiosity got the better of her, as it usually does. She just  _ had  _ to know what he was listening to, it'd drive her crazy otherwise. Seconds go by and she decided to take some action. 

She reaches towards the unknowing boy, yoinking the earphone out of his right ear. "What are you doing?" He turns to her, a big smile on her face. "Watcha listenin' toooo?" Her sentence drags, his eyes rolling in the process. He reaches for his headphone, seizing it back from Wendy's clutches. 

"To answer your question... I was listening to Nirvana." The scruffy teens' reply caused Wendy's eyes to light up in excitement and even more curiosity. "Nirvana? I thought you'd be listening to BABBA!" She grins, leaning forward on the desk to hear an explanation. 

"Well..."

She poked his arm "Weeeeeeeell? Come on Dip, spill the sauce." 

"You always read Indie Fuzz and music magazines so I thought I'd check em out too..."

The grin on Wendy's face grew even wider as she realizes she managed to convert Dipper into a Rock lover. "It seems someone is trying to hijack my style..." She wistfully teases, winding him up in the process. "Shut up," he lightly punches her arm and she laughs. 

She's glad though. She didn't think he'd like the music she liked. Well, she only knew he liked Nirvana so she'll have to ask what else he liked... But that's fine. She was enjoying the conversation, discussing music always cheered her up. Plus, knowing he listens to this stuff because of her makes her feel giddy. 

"Who else do you like listening to?" She probed. 

"well uhh, I really like Foo Fighters."

If she could grin any wider, she would be the Cheshire Cat's stunt double. "No way! I love Foo Fighters!" She squealed, excitement radiating from her, and needless to say, it was contagious. Dipper started to get drawn into the excitement as well, her aura enveloping him. "Really? I love Dave Grohl, he's such an amazing singer."

"You know Dave Grohl looks like the drummer from Nirvana!" She joked. 

Dipper stifled a laugh, "They're the same person ya idiot."

The pair burst into laughter, the boredom of the shift had completely disappeared by this point and the two were back to their usual back and forth. They spent a while discussing various bands, singers, and musicians. It didn't matter if one of them didn't like the musician, they were still willing to listen to each other and discuss. 

As the two talked, Wendy thought about this. How they just flowed with the conversation, talking about any band they liked or singer too. Conversations with him were always so eventful and interesting, never  _ ever _ boring. She liked that, that's what made him great to her. Why she held him close... 

"Hey Dipper, can you pass an earphone?" 

"Yeah sure, here."

He handed her his left one so that they didn't struggle with the earphones tugging on their ears. She took his phone and scrolled through his Spotify. "Not bad stuff, wanna listen to one of my playlists?" She asked and he nodded. She started playing her ' _ Summer Favourites _ ' playlist, the pair lightly bopping their heads along to the music....

~~~~~~

Mabel mosied on in, back from taking a nice long totally-not-skipping-out-on-work walk. She poked her head around the corner of the shop to see it empty, no one was around... Well except Wendy and Dipper sitting at the cash register of the gift shop. 

She swiftly made her way over towards the two, wondering if they noticed she had gone off somewhere. As she got closer, she realized they were both sleeping, on the job nonetheless! Well, she was thinking about going for a nap, but that's not the point! She kind of wanted a nap too... 

She inspected the pair, Wendy was leaning on his shoulder, a smile of pure bliss spread across her face. Turning to Dipper, she noticed that his expression was the same, honestly, this was just too adorable not to  _ snap _ a picture of.

*Click*

Mabel snapped a picture of the two, smiling at how adorable they were. Not to mention they were sharing headphones too!? AHHHHH This is too much! Mabel realized that this summer was gonna be veeeery eventful indeed. 

She walked towards the shops' door, turning the Open sign to Closed. I'm sure Soos won't mind if we shut a little early after all. She let out a heavy yawn, yup, definitely tired. Need sleep, now. She took one last look at the pair, before vanishing to her room. Or maybe she should say couple? She snickered to herself. 

"Yeah, right." Disappearing upstairs...


	7. You wanna go with me?

"Hey Dipper, check it out!" Mabel grabbed his shirt sleeve to grab his attention, not like he was doing much in the first place. "What is it?" Dipper turns towards his impatient sister, before being greeted by a flyer being shoved in his face.  
"Argh! Mabel, cut it out!"

"Look! Look broski!"

He grabbed the paper out of her hands, removing it from its unwelcomed stay on his face. He looked at it to see what was making his sister so hyper, which read 'Falls Annual Fair.' Tilting his head to the side, his eyes dart back to Mabel, who had a big crazy grin.

"The fair? Like as in the 'Mystery Fair,'? But Grunkle Stan isn't here to organize it, how come-"

"Argghhhh you're sooooo slow. It's not the 'Mystery Fair.' It's different."

As Mabel was about to start explaining, Soos walked in after leading a bunch of tourists around the shack. He noticed the flyer in my hands and his face lit up. "Oh sweet, you guys going to the Annual Fair?" As Dipper opened his mouth, Mabel intervened before he could say anything, "Yes, yes we are. Aren't we Dipper?" 

The look she gave him sent shivers down his spine, if looks could kill he'd be dead ten times over. Hesitantly he nods in agreement, "yeah we are." Soos chuckles to himself merrily, "That's great, you two _are_ supposed to be working tomorrow... Buuuut I guess I can let you guys have the day off." Mabel let out a huge squeal of joy, hugging him as a thank you. 

"So uhh," Dipper paused for a moment looking at the flyer, "What's the Annual Fair? Isn't it just the Mystery Fair?" He questioned Soos and he crossed his arms, laughing as if it was some kind of silly question. "It's exactly as it sounds my dude, it comes every year! Your good ol' Grunkle Stan used to host the Mystery Fair every year, but since he left to travel with Ford the town was left without a Fair. The town decided it was finally time to have a proper yearly Fair!"

Dipper mentally kicked himself for being so dense and not being able to put two and two together, like come on! Mabel puffed her cheeks out angrily and shook Soos like a toddler, "I was just about to tell him that Soos, you stole my thunder!" The moody teen exclaimed as Soos chuckled, trying to calm her down and save himself from her fury. 

"Mabel, why do you wanna go anyway? Those places are just money traps." 

"Like this place?" Replying nonchalantly, she turned to Dipper with a big toothy smile. That was definitely a blow to Soos alright, as his shoulders hunched at the sharpness of Mabel's reply. "Oh don't take it to heart Soos, I'm only kidding!" She lightly nudged him and he smiled back, "Yeah dude it was funny, that'll be this weeks payment deducted from your paycheck!" And Mabel turned to stone. 

He waved as he walked away with more tourists, leaving Mabel to stutter in disbelief. "W-W-What!! Hey Soos! That's not fair!" She yelled at him and Dipper couldn't help but let out a stifled laugh. "I mean, you did just insult his business." She huffed, stomping behind the counter and plopping down in the seat next to me.

"So, why do you wanna go to this Fair so badly?"  
  
"Ain't it obvious bro-bro?"  
  
Dipper gave her a blank stare, only tilting his head to the side trying to figure out what she was implying. "Uhhhh, lots and lots of cotton candy and rigged carnival games?" Mabel crossed her arms in a huge X symbol while also making a buzzer noise, "Nuh-uh! That was the wrong answer!" She laughs as Dipper only groans in response. 

"Aghhh you're no fun Dipper, fine."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Well, it would be the perfect opportunity to take Wendy don't you think?!" His eager twin gleamed at him, giving him a nudge as she waited for a response. Dipper tilted his dead down a little and his eyes darts away from hers, "She'd probably be busy anyway..." Mabel lets out a loud groan and flops onto the counter. 

"Here he is everyone, Mr. Gives up is here!" Mabel exclaimed as if she was speaking to an audience, much to Dippers Chagrin. "Shut up Mabel, I am not Mr. Gives up!" He sternly spoke, as he chopped his sister's head. "Then stop giving up before you even try! You miss every shot you don't take Dip!" She says as she imitates herself firing a gun at a target, nailing the imaginary round that was fired. 

"You know, you're the most irritating but affective life coach there is Mabel." 

"Don't gotta tell me stuff we already know bro-bro."

Just then, Wendy walked in for the start of her shift and Dipper felt a sudden bout of nerves overtake him. She gave us a wave we waved back, she smiled at me and a smiled back as she walked over to talk to melody. "Dipper! This is the perfect opportunity!" She quietly whispered as she shook my arm aggressively. Dipper stopped her and shook his head.

"I dunno mabes, I don't feel ready-" 

"Wendy! Come over here for a second!" 

Mabel shouted out to her, cutting Dipper off. He turned to his sister, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief. Wendy stopped her conversation with Melody and started approaching us. Dipper was mentally freaking out, unsure of what to say. Why is this so hard? "Yo Mabel, hey Dipper." Wendy chirped as she walked over to us, giving Mabel a high five. 

"Why'd you call me over?" Wendy asked, her tone curious. "Oh Dipper had something to ask you! I gotta go so I'll talk to you two laterrr," Mabel got up and walked away, firing finger guns as she backed away to give the two some privacy. Dipper reached out for her to come back, but it was too late. It was just him, Wendy and these big ol' bundle of nerves. Great. 

"She's acting weird," Wendy pointed out, Dipper leans forward onto the counter and nods, "Yeah she is, I dunno why though." That of course, was a lie. He knew _exactly_ why she was acting weird. ' _Good job Mabel, could you not act anymore obvious!?!_ ' He mentally yelled at his sister, she was definitely gonna get payback later. 

"Sooooo, you wanted to ask me something?" She turns her gaze towards him, and he can't help but feel sheepish within it. Dipper leaned back in his seat, adjusting his cap, ' _Ah crap, why does Mabel have to make everything ten times harder than it actually is?_ ' Screw it, here goes nothing. "So uhh, have you seen the flyers about the Annual Fair?" He asked her with an air of nonchalant. 

"Yeah I have, the attractions are the definition of money traps. looks like it'll be the same as last year,' The redhead yawned as she leaned forward, gazing at Dipper from the other side of the counter. He darted his eyes around swiftly, too high on nerves to make eye contact with her. "Well, is it good?" The nervous boy asked, garnering a smile from Wendy. "I can say hands down, it's better than the Mystery Fair," She laughed giddily, causing a smile to grow on Dippers' face which helped him feel at ease. 

"Well..." He paused, tilting his head down slightly and hiding his eyes with the brim of his cap. Wendy noticed this, leaning forward a little. "Do you wanna maybe go with me?" He mumbles, too faint for Wendy to make out clearly but, she thinks she's getting the idea of where this is going. "What was that? I didn't hear you~" She coos as she begins to tease, leaning closer to him again. 

"I said do you wanna go with me!" He says louder this time, a smile growing across Wendy's face as she feels the giddiness well up inside her. "Yeah I'd love to, maybe you can win me a stuffed plush!" She laughs, lightly flicking his cap up so she can see his eyes again. Dipper sighs, glad that everything worked out fine. "So when are you free?"  
  
Wendy waves a dismissive hand, pointing to the work rota, "I _am_ supposed to be working tomorrow, buuuuut I can take a day off!" Dipper smiles happily, things seem to be working out perfectly.   
  
"Hey, Soos!" She shouts to Soos, in the middle of his tour. He tells the tourists to have a look around, but not to touch any of the exhibits for their own safety. He quickly runs over to us, "What's up dudes, I'm _this_ close to convincing those folks to buy something!" He holds his fingers centimeters apart. "I'm taking the day off tomorrow if that's alright with you?"

Soos nods in agreement, "That's no bother dude, I have the _perfect_ person to cover for you." He waves at Mabel to come over, which she does. "What's up?" She asked, a hint of confusion on her face. "Well, I've decided not to deduct your payment for this week." Mabel's eyes light up and she punches the air with glee, "But... You'll be covering Wendy's shift tomorrow since she's taking the day off!" Soos Pats her head before walking away. 

She doesn't even move. She's just frozen, unable to move. "Can't catch a break, huh?" Dipper snorts, much to the despair of his sister. Wendy can't help but laugh too, giving Dipper a playful shove telling him to hush. Mabel turns to him, cheeks puffing up with irritation. "Shut up, enjoy your date with Wendy tomorrow." And with that, she stormed away leaving Dipper and Wendy alone. 

It's quiet, Mabel's words left the pair speechless. ' _D-Date?'_ Dipper's mind spiraled in uncertainty, not sure what to think. It wasn't a date, right? It's just two friends going to the fair, that's all! Right, right of course. There's' no way he likes the gorgeous redhead leaning right in front of him, staring at him with those dazzling green eyes.

Oh. 

Dipper's eyes widen at the sudden realization, his cheeks flaring up. ' _No, no no no no no NO! C'mon Dipper, you know how this ends._ ' His mind argued, but he can't help it. His mind flashes back to the time she stayed over, how happy he was. How safe he had felt with her, having her close, being there for him. He felt... safe, He'd never felt like that with another person. 

He liked Wendy. Maybe he'd never gotten over her, just buried the feelings. But he knew now that they were still there. He turned to Wendy, who still hadn't said a word. She looked surprised to be sure, Dipper wanted to say something but he felt like there was something stuck in his throat. Dipper clears his throat, which happened to snap Wendy back to reality. 

She turns towards him, but quickly darts her eyes to the side. "You're sister got pretty mad huh?" She laughed, but the laugh seemed like it was sort of uneasy. ' _Thanks, Mabel..._ ' Dipper groans mentally, realizing how awkward this situation is. He's gonna have to apologize to her later. "Yeah hahaha, gonna have to go apologize later..." He groans, bringing the mood back a little. 

Dipper stands up, stretching his joints which was well needed. "I'm gonna go talk to her, watch the shop for me?" He asks Wendy pleadingly, to which she agrees. As she watches him walk off, she smiles to herself as he goes, "A date, huh?" She murmurs to herself...


	8. It Wasn't Supposed To Go Like This

Ever since Mabel casually mentioned that she and Dipper were going on a date,Wendy's mind had been in a frantic frenzy ever since. She could barely even sleep that night either, too awake with thoughts to sleep soundly. ' _Ugh, it is not a date! I'm sure Dipper doesn't think of it as one..._ ' Her mind told her, but she couldn't help but feel ecstatic at the thought that it could be. 

She had messaged Dipper earlier, checking for a time to meet up. He said he'd meet her at the fair that night, around 7 PM which meant she still had a couple of hours to get ready. Although she said a few hours, she was struggling with trying to pick what she was going to wear. 

' _Should I dress casually like I normally do? I mean, I don't wanna make him think I'm trying too hard... But I wanna look nice as well!_ ' 

Wendy flopped onto her bed out of frustration, the inability to make a decision really starting to frustrate her. She couldn't decide... But her mind wandered to tonight and what could happen. Waiting for Dipper, him showing up looking awkward like he usually does. Doing that thing where he rubs the back of his neck being all flustered, she loved that side of him. Him looking up shyly and saying, "You look really pretty..." 

Wendy's face went bright red at the thought, grabbing a nearby pillow to hug as comfort for her stupid fantasies... but... She liked the thought of him saying that. She placed her pillow down and sat up, suddenly there wasn't any doubt about how she would look. She wanted to make an effort, she wanted him to notice. 

' _Should I wear a dress? Wait, come on Wendy it's a fair you're going to, you'd look stupid!_ ' She argued with herself mentally as she fished around her wardrobe for something, anything that would look nice. She found a burnt orange cardigan sweater hidden behind a couple of jackets. "Perfect!" She exclaimed happily, placing it onto her bed as she continued to browse her wardrobe. 

There was no way she was gonna wear a green flannel for tonight, it'd just feel lazy. Nope, not a white vest top either that's too normal. Finally, she laid her eyes on a grey plain T-shirt. It seemed like a perfect match with the cardigan she picked out. She grabbed a pair of skinny blue jeans out of her drawers and a clean pair of calf-high brown boots too. 

After changing into her new clothes, she looked into a mirror. It wasn't a look she tried before, but she felt cute in it. Maybe she'd wear it more often, it'd be a decent change-up from the usual Lumberjill combo. As she looked in the mirror, she felt like there was something missing. She rummaged in her wardrobe one last time, grabbing a scarf. 

It was a gift from Tambry for her birthday, although she hadn't worn it yet. Guess tonight's the night she takes it out for a spin. She dropped it on her bed as she sat over at her desk, pulling out her small desk mirror. Wendy wasn't one for much makeup, but a little mascara and concealer wouldn't hurt. 

After she finished applying it, (And not so subtly poking her eye with the mascara at one point), she was ready. She grabbed her small black leather bag and looked at the time; 6:30 PM. She had enough time to drive there and be a few minutes early. She walked down the stairs with a spring in her step, saying bye to her dad as she headed for the front door. He got back an hour ago so she didn't need to worry about leaving the house unattended. 

She grabbed her keys and headed out, getting into her small car and driving to the Annual Fair. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited for tonight, hell, it was all she was thinking about! She hummed along to the radio as she drove, the surprising road quiet, to say the least. As she watched the road ahead, she noticed something dash across the road, followed by something else close behind. 

She looked to her left to see if she could see anything, but there was nothing. She just shook her head and continued. ' _You're just seeing things_ ' She thought to herself as she continued to the fair. After about 15 minutes, the traffic started to pick up as she reached the fair, finding a place to park. She looked at her phone, texting Dipper to tell him she was there. She still had a few minutes before 7, so she stood and waited eagerly at the fair entrance for Dipper to show up...

_**A couple of hours prior** _

"Mabel! Where's my boots?" The younger twin called out to his sister, who was rummaging through his shoes he brought with him. "How should I know, I don't wear those things!" She yelled back from downstairs. Dipper sighed as he rummaged, finally finding them. He looked in the mirror to make sure he looked fine. He decided to go for the more casual side look, not wanting to look like he put too much thought into his outfit, but still looking semi-decent. 

' _You can never go wrong with a decent shirt and a red flannel, right?_ ' The boy grinned to himself, happy with his outfit. Suddenly, Mabel came tumbling into his room "Oh bro-bro, check this out!" She held out a silver necklace, causing the scruffy teen to turn his head to the side in confusion. 

"Why're you holding that, isn't that your good luck charm for dates?" He questioned the grinning sibling in front of him. She nodded knowingly, "That's right bro-bro, I'm passing it on to you for the utmost luck on this date of yours! Consider it passing on the mantle," She laughed as she placed it in his hands. 

Dipper's cheeks flared up, "Mabel, for the last time, it's not-" But before he could finish the sentence, Mabel cut him off. "Yeah yeah, _'It's not a date Mabel, god'_ , you've said like a million times already I get it."

"Well, I'm glad you _'get it'_ , now drop it." He said sternly, his sister rolling her eyes. She made her way to the door, before turning around and saying with a cheeky grin, "You won't be saying it isn't a date when you two end up smooching!" She exclaims before making kissing sounds. Dipper grabbed his pillow and threw it hard, but she already shut the door before it hit her. She ran down the stairs giggling to herself as she successfully wound her brother up. 

Dipper sat at the end of his bed, watching the time. 5:45 Pm. He'd better get a move on, the fair was quite a distance and he'd feel bad asking for a lift after saying he'd meet Wendy there. Not to mention, he was kinda hoping to find a lead or two about that creature as well. 

"Oh, before I forget,' Dipper put the silver necklace around his neck. The design of the charm was a moon, Mabel liked stars obviously but in her words, _'The moon deserves some attention sometimes too'_ Which is _very_ Mabel.

"Right, I'm heading out!" He called from the door, Mabel shouting her goodbyes as she served customers and Soos waving him off. Dipper pulled out his phone, checking maps for the quickest route. It was currently 5:50, he had an hour to get there and be early. There were 2 routes, one was an hour, while the other was 40 minutes which cut through the woods. If he got there at 5:30, he could buy them a couple of drinks before checking out the fair!

Dipper selected the faster route, beginning to follow its directions as he headed into the woods...

It'd been about 10 minutes and the sign of civilization had more or less faded. Just him and the woods, nice and dark... And spooky, yup definitely spooky. But it's fine, he was only 20 minutes away from the fair. As Dipper walked, stepping through leaves and sticks, he heard a low growling sound. He stopped dead in his tracks. _'What was that?'_ His mind questioned, he hastily looked around his surroundings for any sign of something. 

He had a really bad feeling about this, like, really bad. The growling got closer and all he could do was just stood still as he listened. All of a sudden, it stopped. The growling had disappeared. He gave a relieved sigh and turned around to continue walking. 

_Thud_

Dipper stepped back up a couple of steps, must've bumped into a tree headfirst. He shook his head before looking up at the... tree. What stood in front of him wasn't a tree, at least not one he'd ever seen before. In fact, what he was met with was a big hulking figure towering above him, almost 3 or 4 feet taller than him. That'd be fine if he was still 3 foot tall, but Dipper was 6 foot tall. 

The figure was hairy, extremely hairy to the point it was more like fur. It was doglike, having big doglike ears and a snout to boot. Dipper's eyes widened as he realized at that moment just what exactly was slaughtering all the wildlife and leaving these corpses everywhere. "Werewolf..." He murmured before it leaned forward, a roar bellowing from it as its eyes fixated onto Dipper. 

Rearing its arm back, Dipper saw that its claws were primed and very, _very_ sharp. Dipper ducked as it swiped at him, scrambling past it as he began running for his life. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Dipper repeated to himself frantically as he heard it pacing behind him. He turned his head to see it not far behind, running on all fours as it paced after him. He noticed a big tree and ran towards it, the beast in hot pursuit. 

Hearing it growl, Dipper ran directly up to the tree before making a sharp turn to the left. The Werewolf lunged at Dipper but missed him before colliding headfirst into the tree. It shook it's head as it recovered from its blunder, scanning its surroundings for its prey. He saw the boy running away, and chased after it. Dipper knew that little trick wouldn't work again, he needed to come up with a proper plan, and fast. 

He saw a road up ahead, maybe he could flag a car down? No, no way. He'd just be endangering the person driving as well. He continued to sprint as he heard the beast catching up, panting and growling behind him in hot pursuit. Dipper ran across the road in the flash, no time to look left or right as he dashed quickly. He did notice a car coming, hoping to god the monster didn't attack the vehicle instead. Finally reaching the other side of the road, Dipper continued to run. 

Dipper ran for what felt like forever, but he failed to notice a sudden drop and fell hard, tumbling down the steep hill. As he landed, his phone fell out of his pocket and flew a couple of meters in front of him. He tried to grab it, but was met by the sudden thud and smash of his phone as the Werewolf dropped on top of it, looming above the seemingly doomed boy. 

Dipper was too petrified to do anything as he gazed up at the creature, the creature staring back. It swiped at him, Dipper trying to shield it with his left arm as he tried to dodge, but was slashed on the arm. "ARGHHHH" Dipper cried out as he writhed on the ground in pain, he'd never been cut this badly before and man did it sting. The beast grabbed his shoulder, flipping him onto his back. It had him pinned, he couldn't move. 

_'This is it, I'm dead. It's going to kill me.'_ Dipper's mind raced as he stared at the Werewolf on top of him, tears welling in his eyes as the severity of the situation began to settle in. As the creature reeled its hand back, Dipper shut his eyes. _'I'm sorry everyone, I'm sorry Mabel, Soos, Melody, Mom, and Dad... Wendy...'_ He thought as he said his goodbyes, the situation getting too much for him to handle. 

The creature lunged its hand towards his throat, grabbing his neck. But just as it did, it wreathed back in pain. Dipper opened his eyes to see what had happened "What the hell?" He spoke as he saw the palm of the creature. On it, a bright red burn mark with a symbol of a moon. Dipper's eyes widened, realizing a Werewolfs one weakness. Silver. He grabbed the necklace and pulled it off, holding the beast's crutch towards it. 

The Werewolf whimpered and snarled, clearly terrified of the silver necklace Dipper held in front of it. The beast began backing off, before retreating into the deep woods before it could no longer be seen. Dipper's arms fell to his sides, as he fell backward in exhaustion. He was shaking, shaking hard. He'd never experienced something like that before. He noticed how heavily his arm was bleeding, taking off his flannel ripping off a sleeve, wrapping it around the wound. 

Dipper weakly got up, clambering up the hill he fell with the necklace clutched tightly in his hand. He stumbled steadily back home, making sure to be careful. He didn't have a phone to call Mabel, he just needed to get back quickly. A sudden downpour of rain started, and Dipper sighed as he got soaked beyond belief, just great. 

After what felt like ages of trudging through the now muddy forest, Dipper could finally make out the Mystery Shack in the distance. He'd already fallen twice, just a little farther. As he opened the front door, his sister looked up to see her brother. 

"Hey Dipper! You're back early, it's only 9:30!?' She turned towards him. Suddenly, Dipper fell to his knees as he stepped into the Shack and she got a better look at her brother. He was covered in mood and scratches, and his left arm was bleeding. It was hard to tell, but his red flannel was a far darker red than when he left the house earlier. "Dipper!?" She exclaimed worriedly as she dropped to her knees to help her brother.

She hoisted him up and took him to the bathroom, where she unraveled the messily tied flannel. Mabel handed Dipper a towel, telling him to bite down hard. Dipper did so as Mabel turned on the shower, screaming in pain as he bit down hard. She rinsed the wound of excess blood before running to get the first aid kit, grabbing bandages. 

She applied the bandage to the wound firmly but making sure not to make it too tight, folding it over the wound until it was covered completely. She tied a knot at the end and asked Dipper if it felt too tight. He shook his head and said it was fine. She checked his circulation, pressing on a fingernail to see if it would turn pale. luckily it did, and she sighed in relief, it was a good thing she took a first aid class. 

"Dipper, what the hell happened?" Mabel asked him worriedly and Dipper sighed shakily, "I ran into the creature on my way to the fair. Mabel, we're dealing with a goddamn Werewolf. If you didn't give me the silver necklace for good luck, I'd be-" Before Dipper could finish that sentence, Mabel squeezed his hand hard. "Don't finish that sentence.' Dipper nodded, and they sat there. 

Mabel got up, running to his room to grab a change of clothes. She came back with a massive hoodie, handing it to Dipper. "Do you need help changing?" She asked and he shook his head. He took his stained shirt off and threw the hoodie on top, being careful not to hurt the wrapped up wound too much. They went downstairs, where Mabel went into the kitchen to grab some ice while Dipper sat at the register.

That's when there was a sound at the door, and Dipper looked up to see Wendy standing there...

Wendy had been waiting patiently at the fair for him, watching folk walk past to the fair. She looked at the time, it was 7:30 PM. ' _He's just a little late,'_ She thought to herself as continued to wait. She continued to wait, watching more people walk past. She saw a couple of friends and said hi as they passed, but was still waiting on Dipper. 

She checked her phone again, 8:25 PM. She texted him, even called him more than once but no answer. She sighed as a fair attendant walked over to her, he had gray hair and looked fairly older. "Is everything okay miss? You've been standing an awfully long time.'  
  
She nodded and smiled "Yeah I'm fine, I'm just waiting on someone is all," She replied and the man nodded, heading back to attend to the rest of the fair attendants. She gripped the strap of her bag as she wondered where he was, when there was a sudden downpour of rain. She looked down as she waited, _'maybe he'd still show up?'_ She thought to herself, less hope filling her. Due to the unexpected downfall, the fair began to shut. Wendy still stood there, in the cold rain, waiting for Dipper. She bit her lip, wondering why, _why_ he wasn't here? Why she was left waiting?

She finally moved, heading to her car, it was 9 PM now. She didn't know what to do, she'd been stood up. Why would Dipper do that? There's gotta be a reason, he wouldn't do this. She got worried, she started the car and drove hurriedly to the Mystery Shack. 

As she drove into the Mystery Shacks car park, she noticed the lights were still on. She got out of the car, walking hurriedly to the door. She opened the door and walked in, seeing Dipper sat at the register. A feeling of relief rushed through Wendy's body before a different feeling replaced it. 

Dipper saw the redhead in front of him, soaked completely as she dripped from the rain. Her face was soaked, mascara dripping down her face, she had a look on her he hadn't seen before.

"Wendy-"

"Where were you?" 

"Listen, I-"

As he began to talk, she stepped closer to him until she was in front of him, her voice beginning to rise over him.

"I waited for you for 3 hours Dipper, and you're sat here like nothing's happened!?"

She began to get angry at him, the feelings of being stood up and left in the rain for hours beginning to boil and explode. 

"No calls, no texts, I called you Dipper and you didn't reply! You know how that feels?-"

"Wendy listen to me, that isn't important right no-"

_**SMACK** _

_**.** _

_**.** _

_**.** _

"You're a real asshole, Dipper."

Dipper's eyes were wide with shock. The slap was as loud as a clap and stung his face. It had been an open-handed smack and it had left a red welt behind. He looked back at Wendy, too shocked to utter any words. He could hear a fumble in the other room, the rush of hurried footsteps rushing towards the two. Mabel had heard a loud smack coming from the gift shop. She dropped the big pack of ice she was carrying, worrying that something had happened to Dipper. 

Mabel rushed into the gift shop to see Wendy and Dipper standing opposite from each other, she had an upset look on her face, something Mabel hadn't seen in a long time. Dipper just looked shocked, not uttering a word. Mabel didn't like the atmosphere, it felt so heavy, like she didn't belong. Wendy opened her mouth, it seemed like she was gonna say something, but she didn't, only turning away without uttering a word and leaving the Shack. 

Dipper was too stunned to say anything. He stepped back as he raised a hand to his cheek. Mabel walked over to him hesitantly, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Dipper, what-" But he just shook his head, not wanting to speak. She fell silent as she tried to comfort her brother. The pain from his wound still stung, god did it sting like hell... But it was by far the least hurtful thing he'd experienced tonight...

Meanwhile, Wendy stormed to her room, ignoring her dad and slamming her room door shut, throwing her back onto her desk as she collapsed to her bed. There was a second downpour of rain that night, but it wasn't from the clouds as Wendy wept into the night...


End file.
